


The Only Game in Town

by Iseult_Variante



Category: American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-22
Updated: 2004-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-25 03:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1629881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iseult_Variante/pseuds/Iseult_Variante
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The day before Shadow came to Cairo, Illinois, some of the gods of Egypt held an audience for an honored messenger from Allfather Odin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Only Game in Town

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Brighid

 

 

The day before Shadow came to Cairo, Illinois, some of the gods of Egypt held an audience for an honored messenger from Allfather Odin.

Or:

The day before Shadow came to Cairo, Illinois, Mr. Ibis, Mr. Jacquel and the small brown cat received a raven at the kitchen table.

For any number of reasons, it might seem that one of these sentences is not true. There are no gods of Egypt. If there were gods of Egypt, they would be in Cairo, Egypt, not Cairo, Illinois. There are no Norse gods; there is no Odin. Mr. Ibis seems the type that would object to having a raven at the kitchen table.

Nevertheless, both of these sentences are true. Since they describe the same event, they are, truly, the same sentence.

You could believe that neither is true. After all, this is just a story.

 

The day before Shadow came to Cairo, Illinois, Mr. Ibis, Mr. Jacquel and the small brown cat received a raven at the kitchen table. The raven had flown in through an upstairs window late in the afternoon, made its way down to the kitchen and perched on the back of the heavy ladder-back chair nearest the Kelvinator. It had then waited expectantly.

It did not wait very long. The little brown cat was already curled up in her basket. She opened one amber eye to look at the raven and closed it again, though her ears were perked attentively. Mr. Ibis came in from his study and took the chair opposite, folding his hands on the tabletop. Mr. Jacquel came up the back stairs, took a beer from the fridge and leaned against the wall behind Mr. Ibis. Two pairs of eyes were focused on the bird: one pair behind gold-rimmed glasses, bright and curious, the other dark, calm and weighing.

Once it felt that it had their attention, the raven began to speak. " _Krrok._ Shadowman comes. Keep for Wednesday. _Tok._ "

Mr. Ibis raised both of his eyebrows in a show of surprise. "Oh, this should be interesting!"

Behind him, Jacquel snorted. "What does Wednesday expect us to do? And cut the theatrical crap."

The raven shifted on the back of the chair and ruffled its feathers as though affronted. It continued, "Look. He should be here around this time tomorrow, and he's had a rough trip. Wednesday has some other commitments he's wrapping up, but in the meantime he'd like you guys to take care of his boy. Standard shelter and succor deal."

"Since when did we become the YMCA? It's a busy time of year for us; we ain't got time to baby-sit."

"He's a big guy; give him something to do, he might even come in handy. We both know you've got the space. And I seem to recall Wednesday did you guys a favor, once upon a time." The raven tilted its head to the side so that it was looking at Jacquel out of one beady eye. "Or don't you remember?"

Jacquel bared his teeth, but Mr. Ibis broke in and he subsided. "We remember very clearly that we owe Wednesday a favor," Mr. Ibis said, testily. "I'm sure that Shadow won't be a problem. We'll put him up, take care of him as best we can, and he'll be here when Wednesday comes to collect him." He paused then inquired, "I hope that's adequate?"

Bobbing its head, the raven agreed. "That sounds fine. It shouldn't be more than a couple days. _Krawk._ "

As it took off, the raven noticed that the little brown cat had opened her eyes and was watching it very closely. It was suddenly uncomfortable and glad to be leaving. On one hand, it was a metaphysical representation of an abstract concept. On the other, it was a very large raven, bigger than the little brown cat. Still, the raven didn't like her look.

 

The day that Shadow left, Mr. Ibis and Mr. Jacquel were busy interring Mrs. Lila Goodchild. This was convenient, as Mad Sweeney's wake had left neither of them in a good mood for dealing with Wednesday. They had done what was asked of them, and as far as they were concerned, that was the end of it. Wednesday did not need to know the details, and if Shadow was leaving them in significantly better condition than he had come, well, that was between them and Shadow. Also, they had no interest in hearing about the current project. The little brown cat was more than capable of seeing things through to the end of the bargain by herself.

This she did, watching Shadow leave with Wednesday. Wednesday was right, of course. They would see Shadow again before the end of the storm. It was with this in mind that she went out into the day. Traveling at an easy pace, she went through town towards the highway. Just inside of the city limits she stopped and waited, in the shadow of the bridge, patient as only a feline can choose to be.

The sun was at its apex, though pallid in the grey sky, when the hawk came soaring towards her. He swept lower, searching along the highway for prey, either living or already killed. For just a moment, the brown cat could feel his predatory eyes on her, before he seemed to reconsider, swinging wide over the river then circling back and alighting on one of the rusty supports under the bridge.

For a moment they regarded each other. The cat was waiting for some sign of recognition in the mad eyes of the hawk, but none was forthcoming. Sighing, Bast stood and raised a hand in greeting.

"Horus?"

The hawk sidled forward along his perch, tipping his head to get a clearer view.

"Horus, come on down here."

There was a sudden flurry of motion, as the hawk launched itself off of the bridge, and landed at her feet. Horus looked up at her, but did not rise from a crouch. "Sister?" he asked hoarsely.

Bast smiled, and slowly, carefully, put a hand on his dark hair. "Sometimes. Have you been watching, Horus?"

"Sometimes." He smiled, crazy and sharp. "I thought I saw myself. And I was my shadow."

"Yes, honey, that's right." Bast ran her fingers gently through his dark curls, massaging his scalp with her fingertips. "You're very good. Now, I need you to do something for me. Listen..." Horus laid his head against her thigh as she spoke, staring up at her with the madness undimmed in his eyes.

Much later, the hawk flew off into the late afternoon, heading north. The little brown cat stood for a moment, watching him, and then began to tiredly make her way home.

 

Shadow walked forward into nothing, and the last door swung shut behind him with a deceptive sense of finality. Three figures remained briefly in the Hall of the Dead: a tall man with the head of a long-beaked bird, a black, canine-headed giant, and a woman.

There was a sigh. Thoth said, "I suppose that's it, then?" He spoke in the disappointed tones of someone who has reached the end of a story, and found the conclusion to be unconvincing.

"For us, anyway. For now. I'm not getting involved with what's going down Backstage, but they might need us later." Anubis growled, deep and low. "Fools."

Bast looked away from the door Shadow had passed through, and if her eyes held a touch of regret, her smile was very satisfied. She shook her head and laughed quietly. "Boys, did you really think I wouldn't have planned ahead?" Shaking her hair out of her face, she caught the others in her warm amber gaze. Her smile grew. "I thought it was a pretty good plan, actually."

"Oh, it's a good one," Mr. Ibis nodded, comprehending. Jacquel grinned, his teeth very white in his dark face, and gave a short bark of laughter. The little brown cat looked smug. Being a cat, this may have been coincidental. The three gods of Egypt left the Hall of the Dead to see what would happen next.

 

In the air above the World Tree, a hawk climbed through the clouds towards the sun.

 

 


End file.
